Facilitating Learning Online (FLO)

These courses will help you enhance skills needed to confidently and effectively facilitate online learning.

FLO Blended Learning

Length:  sessions take place over a period of 6 weeks

Mode: Online (including asynchronous and scheduled synchronous sessions) & Face-to-Face (in-person).

Prerequisite: none

Transfer Credit: Taking FLO Blended and FLO Synchronous (to be offered in May/June 2024) is transferable into the PIDP program. 

Time Commitment: This course includes one synchronous online session and three face-to-face sessions on campus. In addition to the planned synchronous sessions, participants should expect to spend 4-6 hours during each week reviewing course content, preparing activities, facilitating, and engaging in course activities. Those with no prior online teaching and learning experience can expect to invest more time. Continuous, active participation is necessary to make this course successful for everyone.

Course Description & Learning Goals: The Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) Blended Learning introduces participants to research-based concepts, principles, and strategies that will make facilitating a course with both online and face-to-face components effective and engaging. This course will help you create seamless lesson plans that utilize the most applicable elements of both the online and face-to-face learning environments.

The course is designed to provide you with:

  • the experience of being a learner in a blended learning course
  • the opportunity to think about, practice, and develop lessons that include both online and face-to-face components
  • educational tools and technologies that can enhance blended-course delivery
  • practice designing and delivering student-centred authentic and flexible learning experiences.

In this course, you will:

  • facilitate learning activities on topics of your choosing
  • integrate blended-learning theories and principles into activities you facilitate
  • experiment with a variety of facilitation techniques and strategies
  • give and receive constructive feedback

Registration:

Register now for the next course starting October 23, 2023

If you have questions or would like more information please contact Emily Schudel or Robin Fast.

FLO Fundamentals

Length: 5 weeks

Mode: Online D2L – primarily asynchronous, with two scheduled synchronous sessions.

Pre-requisite: none

Time commitment: Participants should expect to spend 6-13 hours during each of the five weeks. Those with no prior online teaching and learning experience can expect to invest more time. Daily, active participation is necessary to make this course successful for everyone.

Course description & learning goals: The Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) Fundamentals introduces research-based adult and online learning concepts, principles and strategies that can make online facilitating fun and effective. This course will help you enhance skills needed to confidently and effectively facilitate online learning.

The course is designed to provide you with:

  • the experience of being in the online learner’s shoes;
  • the opportunity to think about, practice and develop your online facilitation skills with other new and experienced online facilitators;
  • the opportunity to deepen your learning as you synthesize your observations, reading and online activities in your journal.

In this course, you will:

  • facilitate, or co-facilitate, a learning activity on a pre-assigned topic;
  • integrate adult and online learning theories and principles into activities you facilitate;
  • experiment with a variety of learning-facilitation techniques and strategies;
  • give and receive constructive feedback;
  • work in online teams;
  • Reflect on, and plan how to apply, what you have learned to other courses and contexts.

You will be given access to the course a few days prior to the start date.

Course completion: A certificate of completion will be awarded to individuals who:

  • facilitate a mini-session
  • complete the facilitation reflection activity
  • participate in mini-sessions facilitated by others
  • provide feedback to fellow mini-session teams
  • contribute to the weekly journal nuggets
  • complete a final “looking back, looking forward” activity

Course context and purpose: The course builds on the fundamental principles of the face-to-face Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW). These principles include:

  • participatory and learner-centred — participants form a learning community and support each other’s learning
  • a safe, respectful learning environment — you will be encouraged to take risks, be creative, and learn from your mistakes
  • feedback-rich — you will be encouraged to give and receive feedback with fellow participants
  • reflective practice — you will analyze and critically reflect on the art of facilitation and your facilitation skills
  • relevant and meaningful — you will explore the future application and transferability of your learning in this course

In FLO-Fundamentals you will facilitate a learning activity (“mini-session“) for your fellow participants. Facilitation is typically done in small groups and involves discussion forums/topics, surveys, or other tools.
Important differences between the ISW and the FLO:

  • The FLO is about online activity design, facilitation, and learning, whereas the ISW is about those things in face-to-face settings.
  • The topics you will be facilitating in FLO are about teaching and learning, whereas ISW lessons are on a self-selected topic.

Registration

  • No courses scheduled at this time. TBA.

Feedback from past FLO participants indicates that this hands-on practice was key to their enjoyment of the course and the synthesis of their learning. We hope the same holds true for you!

FLO Synchronous

Length:  2 weeks

Mode: 
Online D2L, asynchronous plus six scheduled synchronous sessions.

Prerequisite: none

Time commitment: Participants should expect to spend 8-12 hours for additional course activities during each of the two weeks. Some previous online- or remote teaching experience is recommended; those with no prior online teaching and learning experience can expect to invest more time. Continuous, active participation is necessary to make this course successful for everyone.

Course description and learning goals: The Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) Synchronous course introduces participants to best practice strategies to plan for, facilitate and follow up after synchronous online learning events. It will help you enhance skills you need to confidently and effectively facilitate synchronous online learning. Building on the fundamental principles of the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW), this course is designed to provide you with opportunities to see and learn from examples of synchronous online facilitation and practice synchronous online facilitation skills in a safe environment.

Registration:

  • No courses are scheduled at this time. Please check back later.

These courses are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Thank you to BC Campus, Royal Roads University, and many others who have contributed to the development of the content.

Questions?

Contact Martha McAlister at mcalisterm@camosun.ca